Power saws and circular saws in particular are commonly used for cutting work pieces such as wood. In some operating conditions, a power saw experiences kickback. For handheld power saws, kickback occurs when the saw physically recoils from the work piece instead of cutting through the work piece. In a table saw, kickback occurs when a work piece recoils from the saw blade instead of being cut by the saw blade. Existing saws include riving knives and other guards that help to reduce the occurrences of kickback. These saws, however, cannot detect when kickback occurs and take an action, such as engaging a blade arresting device or blade drop device, to reduce or eliminate the kickback. Consequently, improvements to saws that enable improved detection of kickback during operation would be beneficial.